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Scientology is NOT a Business… Wink, Wink

July 9, 2019 By Mike Rinder 82 Comments

Scientology repeatedly claims: “We are a religion engaged in matters of the spiritual plane, not the worldly.” They managed to convince strong arm the IRS into granting them tax exempt status as an exempt “religious” organization on this basis.

Their words AND actions (believe what you hear AND what you see) prove that is just a facade.

Normally this promotional piece would be another one of the Thursday Funnies — there are literally HUNDREDS of similar items from scientology organizations all over the world claiming that scientology can make you “flourish and prosper” and give you the tools to attain an affluent existence etc etc etc

But this one struck me as particularly egregious. There is absolutely no pretense here:

This is what the IRS lists as one of its criteria that preclude tax exemption for an organization like scientology. It is quoted from IRS PUBLICATION 1828 Tax Guide for Churches & Religious Organizations

To qualify for tax-exempt status, the organization must meet the following requirements:

    • the organization must be organized and operated exclusively for religious, educational, scientific or other charitable purposes;
    • net earnings may not inure to the benefit of any private individual or shareholder;
    • no substantial part of its activities may be attempting to influence legislation;
    • the organization may not intervene in political campaigns; and
    • the organization’s purposes and activities may not be illegal or violate fundamental public policy.

The boldface is mine. Note the word “exclusively” — and it does NOT say “business” or “moneymaking” purposes. In fact, it EXCLUDES those things.

How is it that a business, masquerading as a tax exempt religion, can continue to thumb its nose at the IRS? They no longer even try very hard to pretend they qualify…

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Filed Under: Scientology, Tax Exemption Tagged With: Internal Revenue Service, irs, pasadena, Tax exempt status, Tax Exemption

Comments

  1. jere lull ( 38 years recovering) says

    July 10, 2019 at 11:34 pm

    Glenn, the lying in the SO started well before Clearwater. “Shore stories” and other “acceptable truths” (known by reasonable people as LIES) were usual and required by all staff and visitors to the ships. Those were so patently false that the locals imagined their own explanation for the scientologists’ strange behaviors, like them being CIA agents or other absurdities. As I saw it, those shore stories caused more problems than they solved, because the locals could SEE that they were being lied to.

    Reply
  2. jere lull ( 38 years recovering) says

    July 10, 2019 at 10:44 pm

    Debbie:”PLUS his bromance with COB…..?” RIGHT! HOW MUCH gayer can a guy get? Of course, there’s always DM, who shipped off his “wife” to Siberia after not being particularly ‘sharing’ with her for some time: Separate Beds, she complaining to VH that she’s not getting ‘buff, that sorta thing. From what I’ve read, DM got his jollies with TC’s ‘companionship’, and any woman “in the wings” are more likely to be demonstrating his *power* than anything else.

    Reply
  3. Robert King says

    July 10, 2019 at 1:42 am

    Does the cult have to show any tax documents, or file ANYTHING to show ANYTHING to the IRS every year where the money goes?
    My “postulate ” is that Tom Cruise wakes up, realizes it’s ALL a big scam and joins up with Mike and Leah to fight the good fight.

    Reply
    • PeaceMaker says

      July 10, 2019 at 9:52 am

      Unfortunately, “religious” status exempts them from any reporting, unlike ever other types of non-profits. That’s something that ought to change because it leaves such room for abuse and fraud, but at moment it seems there’s a combination of radical hands-off thinking that essentially holds that if people are exploited then it’s either their fault or God’s will, and a powerful religious lobby that doesn’t want even the beginnings of any scrutiny of where all the money goes.

      Reply
      • Aquamarine says

        July 10, 2019 at 3:52 pm

        Nails on the head all over the place, Peacemaker.

        Tiny Scientology clings to Big Religions’ voluminous skirts and is safe – for now.

        Reply
      • jere lull ( 38 years recovering) says

        July 10, 2019 at 10:30 pm

        Peacemaker: You hit many nails on their heads. Brava.

        Reply
    • Debby says

      July 10, 2019 at 4:01 pm

      Why would he leave when so many kiss his ass. He KNOWS about all abuses and illegal activities. All his staff are Scientologists and to my knowledge, get paid approximately 40 cents/hour. Plus his bromance with COB…????

      Reply
  4. Lynne Gerred says

    July 10, 2019 at 1:10 am

    I was so very disappointed the IRS gave Scn the tax exempt status. It scared me that Scn could basically intimidate the IRS into submission. I have gotten some reassurance with Leah Remini and Mike Rinder’s show that this may change. It doesn’t make sense to me how Golden Era could sell stuff and not pay taxes. They sold books and tapes. Real material, not services, how could that possibly be tax free?

    Reply
    • Aquamarine says

      July 10, 2019 at 3:54 pm

      Lynne, Co$ does charge tax on books and tapes and other materials. At least, they were charging tax on materials a year or so before I left which was 2010.

      Reply
  5. Skyler says

    July 9, 2019 at 9:48 pm

    I was searching through the web today for something unrelated to this discussion. By chance, I found a huge file of PDF pages which appeared to me to be a petition signed by thousands of people who objected to “robo-calls”. It seemed like this petition had either been sent to Congress or was in the process of being collected and would then be sent to Congress at some later time.

    Unfortunately, I have no idea whether it would be sent to all members of Congress or only to a select few members of some committee or inquiry or something. I’m sorry but I don’t know the correct names or legal terms to describe what this petition was.

    Each wrote person wrote a sentence or 2 or 3 explaining whey they wanted people to be able to have robo-calls turned off for their phones.

    My thought was would it be possible to do something like this for this ridiculous IRS exemption?

    Would anyone here know if it would be possible for us to start a similar petition to remove the Tax-Free Exemption? I don’t know how much it might help do that. But I love the thought of doing something that would add to the miseries that Monster Man now faces and the mounting miseries he will continue to face in the (hopefully near) future.

    Reply
    • Skyler says

      July 9, 2019 at 10:03 pm

      P.S. You should know that some of the statements written by these people indicated that their telephone providers already offer the option to block certain numbers and they claim that is an effective way you can block all robo-calls. So if you are fortunate enough to get your telephone services from some such company, then I assume you have the option of asking them to automatically block all robo-calls made to your phone. Unfortunately, the service provided is not good enough because the people who make robo-calls can “spoof” the numbers they call from. They can make it appear they are calling from any number they choose.

      Wouldn’t it just be heaven to be able to block all robo-calls? There are few things that anger me as much as receiving incoming calls from some company trying to sell me some of their stupid shit. I have had to turn off my ringer because I refuse to allow any of these jerkoffs to intrude into my privacy like that. I’ve told people who need to contact me they should instead send me a text message and/or email because I no longer answer my phone when someone that I do not recognize makes a voice call to me.

      My phone service enables me to specify a list of specific phone numbers and it will block all incoming calls that come from any of those phone numbers. But there is a problem with specifying a list of numbers I want blocked.

      The people who make these robo-calls are able to “spoof” the phone number they are calling from. They appear to call from different numbers every day. So blocking specific numbers does not help me. In addition to this, there are other problems with the way they block specific numbers and so this option is pretty much useless to me.

      Reply
    • jere lull ( 38 years recovering) says

      July 10, 2019 at 10:59 pm

      Skyler, scn is actually late getting into the game of robocalls. I get a few that I can ID. Typically, I note the “spoofed caller ID, often a fake # from a town in my area code.I pick up and check to see if anyone’s saying anything. If not, I’ll say:”You can’t sell anything if you don’t say anything.” sometime,s they will speak in a thick accent, at which point, I’ll ask for someone who speaks English as their primary language. For one customer-service Co I’d worked for, since outsourced to India, that meant getting transferred to our building in the US [yup, snarky]. In the case of a Flag robo-call, I got transferred to a guy I’d heard about before I’d gone off to Flag, still doing the “reg” thing while I’m happily retired about 50 years later. Sadly, I suspect he’ll be the LAST reg to hang up his phone.

      Reply
  6. Chicken says

    July 9, 2019 at 9:44 pm

    Daily Mail has an article about Placido Domingo’s family and scientology today.

    Reply
  7. shereefe says

    July 9, 2019 at 6:29 pm

    It makes one wonder why the gov’t doesn’t step in. Maybe because to scientologists, it’s their life BUT to the gov’t, 25000 people is not a lot. They can easily see it’s imploding so why bother??? I can’t figure it out. It drives one crazy not knowing why the gov’t doesn’t at least look into it. Or maybe they are???

    Reply
    • Aquamarine says

      July 9, 2019 at 8:53 pm

      The government doesn’t look into it because Co$ is not doing anything illegal in this country. Immoral, unethical, yes, hugely so, but not illegal. From the government’s viewpoint, what’s the point?

      Sucks, doesn’t it?

      That’s why getting the truth out via blogs like this and shows like Aftermath is how to bring Co$ down. Co$ is near dead but then the Still Ins are near dead too. They are the ones keeping their corrupt organization alive, at least appearance-wise.

      The problem, the essential problem is THEM. Without THEM, no amount of money could keep Co$ alive, unless, of course, they started PAYING people to work for them – unlikely.

      Reply
      • Joe Pendleton says

        July 10, 2019 at 10:46 am

        Aqua … You totally nailed it!

        Reply
      • Wynski says

        July 10, 2019 at 1:22 pm

        Aqua, for the MOST part that is true.

        Reply
        • Aquamarine says

          July 10, 2019 at 4:02 pm

          Thanks, Wynski. Please tell me where I’m off. I don’t mind being corrected. This is something about which I want to be 100% accurate.

          Reply
          • Wynski says

            July 11, 2019 at 12:18 pm

            By breaking the rules for religious orgs to give back to society they might be breaking the law. I’m not entirely sure. Mike would know more precisely.

            Reply
            • PeaceMaker says

              July 11, 2019 at 3:50 pm

              Wynski, I think the CofS is also in jeopardy on an implicit requirement to be open to the public, part actually of the requirement not to provide private benefits (which can be to a group, not just individual inurement such as to a leader). They are starting to operate more like a closed religious community (yet another non-profit category with different requirements and restrictions) or private club as they focus on catering to existing membership, particularly “whales,” and cease to have any meaningful outreach or actual recruitment.

              The Shriners, for instance, don’t get to be a church just because they hold some arguably spiritual beliefs, and have charitable endeavors like driving around in miniatures cars under the aegis or raising money for hospitals.

              My best guess is that the IRS will eventually challenge Scientology on multiple points – and possibly just settle for downgrading them to a more restrictive non-profit status as a first step, all of which would require them to start making financial filings.

              Reply
              • Wynski says

                July 11, 2019 at 9:11 pm

                I’ve never seen that in the IRS regs (property being open to all). Religions have a right to choose who they allow in. IF that is part of their “creed”

              • PeaceMaker says

                July 12, 2019 at 1:48 pm

                Wynski, a closed group then becomes a religious community, like a monastery or convent, or a communitarian religious group, which puts it in a different non-profit category. There are IRS cases that hinged on that distinction. It’s the same sort of principle that also applies to the more extreme example of “private churches,” typically though not always a mail-order “minister” and immediate family trying to claim exemption. There are distinctions, or every private group with some religious or spiritual component, like the Shriners or the Knights of Columbus, would be able to claim full-blown “church” exemptions.

                There’s an article that discusses a lot of this:

                The Tax Exempt Status of Communitarian Religious Organizations:
                https://scholarship.law.duke.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=1876&context=faculty_scholarship

                Note that Meade Emory, the lead author, has advised Scientology, and some of the language about the accumulation of funds “to finance an organization’s expansion” sounds like a virtual blueprint for Miscavige’s strategy. However, the article also notes that “an extremely small number of members or an accumulation of funds far in excess of those needed to meet operating costs” are also grounds for suspicion, and at some point Scientology will be in such flagrant violation of such principles that its current status will be indefensible.

  8. Scribe says

    July 9, 2019 at 5:44 pm

    In celebration of COB’s infamous Musical Chairs, I give you the following:

    [Intro]
    This is the real life, you are a real SP
    Caught at the Int Base, no escape from reality
    Open your eyes, look into my eyes and see
    You’re just some dumb fucks, looking for sympathy
    Because you’re easy come, easy go, little high, little low
    Any way the wind blows doesn’t really matter, SP

    [Verse 1]
    El Ron, just had a cog
    Gonna get into their heads
    Play a new game that they’ll dread
    El Ron, they’ve had too much fun
    So now I’m gonna take it all away

    El Ron, ooh
    I just wanna make ’em cry
    If they all crack again this time tomorrow
    Carry on, carry on
    As if nothing really matters

    [Verse 2]
    Too late, their time has come
    Sends shivers down my spine
    Body’s coming all the time
    Goodbye everybody, you’ve got to go
    Gotta leave it all behind and ship you to Beirut
    El Ron, ooh
    They can all just die
    I sometimes wish they’d never been born at all

    [Verse 3]
    I see a little silhouetto of a man
    Scaramouche, Scaramouche, will you do the Fandango?
    Thunderbolt and lightning, very frightening these SPs
    (Galileo) Galileo, (Galileo) Galileo, Galileo Figaro magnifico
    But you’re just a poor fuck, nobody loves SPs
    You’re just a poor fuck from a poor family
    Give you a taste of my monstrosity
    Easy come, easy go, I can’t let you go
    Bismillah! No, I will not let you go
    (You can’t go!) Bismillah! I will not let you go
    (You can’t go!) Bismillah! I will not let you go
    (You can’t go) Will not let you go
    (You can’t go) Will not let you go
    (You can’t go) Ah
    No, no, no, no, no, no, no
    (Oh, mamma mia, mamma mia) Mamma mia, you can’t go
    Beelzebub has a devil put aside SP, SP, SP!

    [Verse 4]
    So you think you can screw me and spit in my eye?
    So you think you can fuck off and have a good time?
    Oh, SP, can’t do this to me, SP
    You’re shipping out, you’re shipping right outta here!

    [Outro]
    Nothing really matters, anyone can see
    Nothing really matters
    Nothing really matters, SP
    Any way the wind blows…

    Reply
  9. Kat LaRue says

    July 9, 2019 at 2:56 pm

    I REALLY wish that the IRS would revoke the status, but the realist in me thinks that may be some time in coming. The easiest way would be a very large, very public event that would be impossible to ignore (like an actual civil court trial transcript that implicates the cult and its leaders in crimes that would automatically revoke). That may be coming, but it will likely drag on for years before it ever sees the inside of a court room. And the chance of Miscavige admitting to something, even under oath, is remote- Im sure he would have no issues with committing perjury, since it isn’t against his ‘Hubbard approved ethical code’ which includes the necessity to lie to all wogs and protect the money.

    Im sure its coming….and I wont give up

    Reply
    • Skyler says

      July 9, 2019 at 6:47 pm

      He is such a dirtbag that it wouldn’t surprise me if he tried to do just about anything to either reduce or escape punishment. As for perjury, everything about his past behavior would lead people to believe he would have no qualms about doing that.

      But I wouldn’t be surprised if he decided to leave all the dupes twisting in the wind by making some kind of a deal so that he escapes and everyone else has to pay the price.

      I just wish I knew of some example from history where that has happened. But I would put nothing past this miscreant.

      Reply
      • Kat LaRue says

        July 10, 2019 at 7:43 pm

        Skyler,
        Just look to Hubbard for an example. Im sure Miscavige has made sure he has the ability to separate himself from whomever is implicated- just like LRH did when his wife and many others were implicated in the espionage case. Everyone else went to jail and Hubbard skated.

        Miscavige will throw any available body under the bus just as his idol did.

        Kat

        Reply
  10. Balletlady says

    July 9, 2019 at 2:08 pm

    The IRS apparently got fed up, sick & tired, harassed to no end. “They” made sure to look into everything & everybody like all staff people & higher ups to find “wrong doings & criminal activity” & must have followed & photographed IRS staff, & harassed them for years to literally forced the IRS to give them status.

    There is not a person on this earth who is perfect & I am sure “they” found some dirt on some of the Staff members that would embarrass them if it all came out….keep “bugging/annoying/harassing like a bee buzzing around your head that won’t go away no matter how much you swat at it for years and years…& the IRS got tired of it & finally gave in…too sad.

    I can only imagine the “squirrel busting tactics” they use to get what they wanted. The IRS finally gave in…& then….”they” went silent’

    The IRS will NEVER take away the COS tax exempt status…just not gonna happen.

    Reply
    • Peabody says

      July 9, 2019 at 4:20 pm

      From what I remember:

      scientology paid investigators to dig up as much dirt on IRS employees using their “fair game” tactics (and they found a lot) and then took out full page ads describing what was found in newspapers. I think there were suicides. The IRS had no way of handling that scenario. One day, davy showed up at the IRS commissioner’s office and gave him an ultimatum. “Grant us religious exemption or we will turn up the heat.” (In so many words). The commissioner caved in and the IRS leaned a valuable lesson – the IRS doesn’t have enough money in its budget to fight scientology.

      Davy walked away “knowing” that he was more powerful than the IRS. Some day that will change and davy will experience a very long fall – no blow-down – no F/N

      Reply
      • Aquamarine says

        July 9, 2019 at 8:36 pm

        Peabody, I also read somewhere that at that time the Dwarf had “compromat” on the then IRS Commissioner which why said Commissioner caved so easily and fully to Dave’s demands. But once again I have not done my research and I hang my head in shame before you 🙂

        Reply
        • Balletlady says

          July 10, 2019 at 6:22 pm

          Exactly Peabody & Aquamarine……So much dirt dug up & knowing COS & David M has no compassion….out for blood 24/7 & had to PROVE they are “a religion” no matter who they force into giving them exempt status.

          I don’t think it will EVER be revoked…..so much out there about other religions & crimes that hurt people FLDS, Hare Krishna etc…THEY still have exempt status so I do not think COS exempt status will EVER be removed.

          Reply
  11. Scribe says

    July 9, 2019 at 1:36 pm

    There’s no business like Org business
    Like no business I know
    Everything about it is revealing
    Everything no real church would allow
    Nowhere could you get that special feeling
    When you are stealing from a cash cow

    There’s no people like Org people
    They smile, wanting to blow
    Yesterday they told you just how great you are
    You’d clear the planet and be a star
    Next day all your public’s hanging out in bars
    Let’s go on with the show!

    Reply
  12. nomnom says

    July 9, 2019 at 1:09 pm

    A number of churches allow the use of their facilities for non-religious seminars.

    The difference here is that LRH tech is ‘scripture’ and is being used to indoctrinate.

    Reply
    • Old Surfer Dude says

      July 9, 2019 at 2:05 pm

      Scripture my ass!

      Reply
  13. Cindy says

    July 9, 2019 at 12:39 pm

    One of the rules to getting IRS tax exempt status is that, “no substantial part of its activities may be attempting to influence legislation.” Yet there are LRH references on how we should get ourselves on the comm lines of the world, and that Key to Life had one of many goals to get people into the government in jobs there so they could influence the government. And on OT VIII LRH writes that he will come back as a politician etc. Then Joy Villa up an runs for office and continues to try to win a political post for herself. So they broke that rule with the IRS already in all these things.

    Reply
    • Wynski says

      July 9, 2019 at 2:18 pm

      No Cindy. the rule is not that the PARISHIONERS of a church may not spend a substantial part of their time attempting to influence legislation. Nor that a church cannot ask its membership to be politically active.

      You have misunderstood the rule.

      Reply
  14. Glenn says

    July 9, 2019 at 12:17 pm

    ‘the organization’s purposes and activities may not be illegal or violate fundamental public policy.”

    The government should look into and prosecute the cult for all the fraud committed. I’ve seen many instances of misrepresentation of facts in my years “in”. Lie under oath because it is all for the greater good, etc. I learned this goes back even to flag moving from the ship to Clearwater. It was all bullshit and all foreign staff had to testify they were on vacation (as they were on tourist visas which were fraudulently obtained also) so they could later seek permanent residency .Mike. Weren’t you there at the time? Can you shed some more light on this?

    Reply
    • Wynski says

      July 10, 2019 at 1:24 pm

      Glenn you REALLY think that the US gov SERIOUSLY wants to get rid of illegals or go after those bringing them into the USA? LMAO

      Reply
      • Glenn says

        July 13, 2019 at 10:54 am

        Good point Wynski.

        With over 12 million illegal aliens here I have to agree. But I am hopeful our current administration’s activities show good change might be coming.

        Reply
    • jere lull ( 38 years recovering) says

      July 10, 2019 at 11:26 pm

      Glenn quoted:”the organization’s purposes and activities may not be illegal or violate fundamental public policy.”

      AFAICT, the government EXPECTS witnesses to lie to them in certain circumstances, so simply lying is weak sauce for them to pursue.That scientologists lie, must lie, can’t not lie is pretty firmly established to anyone who has scratched the surface more than a little bit and discovered that the “gold” plating is on festering excrement. PROVING hat they’re lying(intentionally, with malice aforethought) is SUCH an expensive undertaking for no significant “reward” (bureaucratically, that is.) Even if they “win”, the Government loses such cases., as the scn spin masters would turn it into another case of “religious persecution”, which trumps (so to speak) all reasoned explanations to the contrary. The IRS is particularly susceptible to that because they’ve already admitted to targeting scientologists BECAUSE they admitted to being scientologists, Charging “donations” to scn enterprises as ‘charitable contributions’, and such.

      Reply
      • Glenn says

        July 13, 2019 at 10:49 am

        Jere,

        Under US law it is illegal to commit fraud or misrepresentation in proceedings with the government. A friend told me she has personally witnessed many, many instances of staff submitting false information in government proceedings and lying under oath in same. She tells me if any of them are caught doing this in immigration proceedings the defrauder can be kicked out of America permanently. She said she’s seen many instances of such fraud.

        So, I’d hope our government would go after them all and maybe even see this as grounds to rescind the cult’s tax exempt status.

        Reply
  15. Dawn aka MyInnerSpace says

    July 9, 2019 at 11:52 am

    Well to play devil’s advocate they could say this falls under education right?

    Reply
  16. Wynski says

    July 9, 2019 at 11:24 am

    I ran this by a Senior Corp. IRS auditor for the East I’m friends with and he said that running an education course for a person to become successful at business doesn’t violate that code. He said otherwise tax exempt religious schools could not have business courses as part of their education line up and this falls under the education portion of the allowed activities.

    But, they still don’t qualify as religious tax exempt for the other reasons you have shown us.

    Reply
    • Mike Rinder says

      July 9, 2019 at 11:37 am

      Interesting. Was that on the basis of seeing this one example as an isolated instance, or taking into account the hundreds of offerings that promote how to make money — not in school — but in “church”?

      Reply
      • Wynski says

        July 9, 2019 at 2:07 pm

        It was on the basis of the first bullet pointed part of the code. A church isn’t restricted in what skill it offers education on, other than illegal activities of course and political education. You know, masking partisan politics as “education” in defiance of what is in the 2nd and 3rd bullet point. Churches can offer the education as long as they are NOT doing it as a for profit manner.

        Reply
      • Kat LaRue says

        July 9, 2019 at 3:05 pm

        If they are taking money for the ‘seminar’, and the money is going to the ‘church’, and the person giving the ‘seminar’ is a member, and they are consistently using the same model to make money for the church, then that’s a business- not education. The IRS may need to see the pattern.

        Reply
        • Wynski says

          July 9, 2019 at 5:38 pm

          Kat, that holds true for any activity. It cannot be FOR profit. Selling cookies FOR profit is a no-no for a non-profit church. You couldn’t have the Keebler Nun Church operating as a FOR profit cookie company if it were a non-profit….

          Reply
    • PeaceMaker says

      July 10, 2019 at 9:42 am

      I still suspect that in the long run, the IRS will look at all the money-related activities, combined with other major factors such as their not providing any public benefit as membership and outreach dry up, and at least re-classify the CofS as something more like a private club. There are a number of non-profit categories like that to which they could be downgraded, that would allow the IRS to deal with them incrementally; other such types of non-profits are subject to stricter reporting requirements and asset limitations, that would probably eventually do the CofS in.

      Thanks for checking with an expert to get us better information.

      Reply
  17. Scribe says

    July 9, 2019 at 11:00 am

    Church and money, church and money
    They go together like a sex-crazed bunny
    This I’ll tell you brother
    You can’t have one without the other

    Church and money, church and money
    It’s an institute whose greed is stunning
    Ask the local gentry
    And they will say it’s elementary

    Try, try, try to separate them
    It’s an illusion
    Try, try, try, and you will only come
    To this conclusion

    Church and money, church and money
    They go together like a sex-crazed bunny
    Dave was schooled by Hubbard
    You can’t have one without the other

    Reply
    • Skyler says

      July 9, 2019 at 12:10 pm

      Very nice, Scribe.

      Reply
      • Old Surfer Dude says

        July 9, 2019 at 2:08 pm

        Once again, outstanding!

        Reply
        • Aquamarine says

          July 9, 2019 at 4:54 pm

          Clever parody and soooo applicable, Scribe!

          Reply
    • Briget says

      July 9, 2019 at 5:43 pm

      One of your best, Scribe!

      Reply
      • Scribe says

        July 9, 2019 at 10:13 pm

        “Not funny.”

        Dave

        Reply
  18. christopher baranet says

    July 9, 2019 at 10:26 am

    Mike ,
    Different topic. Who excatly was with LRH when he died? Who called DM and the others when they were in Reno ? Was it Annie Broker ?

    Reply
    • Mike Rinder says

      July 9, 2019 at 10:32 am

      When he died it was Annie Broeker, Steve Pfauth, Gene Denk and Ray Mithoff as I recall.

      Reply
      • christopher baranet says

        July 9, 2019 at 1:13 pm

        Thanks.

        Reply
      • Overun in California says

        July 9, 2019 at 2:42 pm

        Speaking of Gene Denk, (An OT Dr. who died way too young from cancer), whatever happened to his wife? She used to post here all the time. Did she go back into the COS?

        Reply
        • Mike Rinder says

          July 9, 2019 at 3:41 pm

          No she did not. She is well and living her life. That someone no longer takes the time to post her doesn’t mean they went back to the COS.

          Reply
          • Overun in California says

            July 9, 2019 at 8:48 pm

            Sure I understand. But she used to post daily here for quite a while, and then just abruptly stopped.
            I liked her, and enjoyed reading her comments.

            Reply
  19. John Doe says

    July 9, 2019 at 10:15 am

    Ok, while I fully agree that then”church” is a business masquerading as a church, I don’t think this flyer makes a strong case for proving Scientology is actually a business.

    The argument could easily made that the purpose of this seminar is “educational”, to help parishioners be successful in the world.

    Reply
    • Mike Rinder says

      July 9, 2019 at 10:34 am

      And they do not have an “educational” exemption which is not the same as religious.

      Reply
  20. Devon the DB says

    July 9, 2019 at 9:12 am

    I have personally witnessed a 20 plus year veteran Scientologist use the “tech” for his business and fail miserably. I mean – rip people off and get sued over and over. Then he blows the area and starts all over again somewhere else.

    They were able to keep the phone bill paid though – thanks to Ron and the “tech”. Ron says “pay your phone bill first”.

    Thank Xenu the fella knew his tech.

    Reply
    • Wynski says

      July 9, 2019 at 11:32 am

      Over the last 40 years the VAST majority of scamology owned businesses of any size that used Hubtard Tek have disappeared into bankruptcy.

      Reply
      • Ms. B. Haven says

        July 9, 2019 at 5:39 pm

        scientology’s ‘admin tech’ works just as well as ‘ethics tech’ and plain ‘ol tech tech’, it doesn’t. It doesn’t work for the cult itself with it’s ranks of trained, re-trained, re-treaded, crammed and GAT IIed execs. If it doesn’t work for them, it sure as hell isn’t going to work for a for-profit company trying to make a buck in a very competitive business world. There isn’t a single Fortune 500 company out there that uses even a shred of Hubbard’s ‘admin tech’. If ‘admin tech’ worked as claimed, I’ll guarantee anyone and everyone would be all over it. The phony Hubbard College of Administration would be bursting at the seams just as are all of the Ideal Orgs, Ideal Missions, Ideal Field Groups, Ideal WISE guys and Ideal Shadowy Front Groups are that have anything to do with the cult.

        Reply
        • AnonyMaker says

          July 9, 2019 at 11:49 pm

          The “admin tech” is based on early 20th century industrial and military management principles, that contributed to most of the once-large corporations of the era disappearing (like various steel companies beat out by efficient Asian mills, and Sperry-Rand, the old mainframe company that also absorbed Burroughs, Edgar Rice Burroughs’ grandfather’s company) or going bankrupt and being reorganized along more modern lines (the auto companies, also nearly vanguished by more agile and quality-oriented Asian companies). Anything even vaguely resembling it was long ago abandoned by any corporation that is still in business – and even the military has had to keep up with the times.

          On top of that, it doesn’t help that Scientology encourages members to get into dubious but possibly high cash yield lines of business, requires them to spend long amounts of time away from work, and pushes them to strip their businesses of assets to donate. Many small member-owned businesses have either been hobbled or gone under because of such pressures.

          Reply
  21. PickAnotherID says

    July 9, 2019 at 9:06 am

    In Hernandez v. Commissioner, 490 U.S. 680 (1989) the Supreme Court of the United States determined $cientology was a quid pro quo business, and not entitled to tax exempt status. That decision has never been over turned. Yet in 1993 the IRS granted $cientology 501(c)3 tax exempt status anyway.

    And not just a regular tax exemption. $cientology was given permissions, like setting “fixed donations”, and determining for itself which front groups should be included in that exemption, no other 501(c)3 tax exempt organization has been allowed to do. In fact, any other 501(c)3 organization setting “fixed donations” would lose their exemption in short order. Talk about a government agency ‘favoring one religion over others’.

    I’m still trying to get an answer to where in the Constituion it is allowed for any government agency to simply ignore a standing SCOTUS decision.

    Reply
    • Wynski says

      July 9, 2019 at 2:13 pm

      “I’m still trying to get an answer to where in the Constitution it is allowed for any government agency to simply ignore a standing SCOTUS decision”

      You won’t find because under the US Constitution SCotUS CANNOT make law. NOR “interpret” the Constitution. It is a legal fiction. Both Thomas Jefferson and The “Father” of the Constitution wrote a nice bit on the unconstitutional Marbury v. Madison of 1803.

      Reply
    • Peabody says

      July 9, 2019 at 4:35 pm

      SCOTUS does not make decisions or rules or laws. It’s job is to offer OPINIONS based on the Constitution in disputes between the States which forces the States to follow the Constitution. There is no requirement to adhere to any SCOTUS “decision” which is not Constitutional.

      Reply
  22. Badafuco says

    July 9, 2019 at 9:04 am

    I know it may be a losing battle but is there any way to have the IRS reverse their decision eventually? Will there ever be enough of a case documenting all the tax-exempt violations given to the IRS to review? Seems like there has to be some chatter in their offices somewhere. Right? What can WE do?

    Reply
    • Wynski says

      July 9, 2019 at 11:35 am

      Badafuco. Write snail mail letters to your congressional reps. Search this site for possible example letters. Make appointments to actually speak to your Reps about it.

      Reply
      • Kat LaRue says

        July 9, 2019 at 2:37 pm

        When enough people make enough noise, they will look closely at it. It will likely take something fairly cataclysmic for the IRS to reverse their determination. unfortunately.

        Reply
      • Ammo Alamo says

        July 9, 2019 at 8:18 pm

        I suggest using email, fax, and social media rather than snail mail to communicate with government officials, or with public officials at any level.

        Anthrax was found in U.S. Mail over the course of several weeks beginning on September 18, 2001, one week after the September 11 attacks. It killed 5 people and infected 17 others.

        The crime basically went unsolved, and ever since then public officials have been wary about receiving any envelopes or packages. Your mail might get read, but it could be weeks later, and then only read by some temp worker wearing gloves and a respirator.

        Reply
        • Wynski says

          July 9, 2019 at 9:37 pm

          No, NO, NO! Congress critters do NOT reject snail mail nor have to wait weeks for it. Snail mails are given more weight, 5:1 or 10:1 over electronic communication from their constituents. Go talk to some Chief’s of Staff of congress people (or a good lobbyist) before posting stuff that will make communication less effective.

          Reply
  23. Free At Last says

    July 9, 2019 at 9:00 am

    This post is restimulating David Miscavige BIG TIME. It is very entubulating to him.

    He knows his time is limited. Tick Tock DM.

    It will be very soon you will stop living your lavish lifestyle with your robot slaves doing your bidding. Soon….very soon the IRS and US Government shuts this cult down, yanks that tax exempt service and puts the tiny little dictator in prison for his crimes against humanity. We won’t stop until this happens. Put that in the Bank DM.

    We have a new non profit out there called iSqueeled.

    We are letting the world know that Scientology is nothing but a scam and David Miscavige is a criminal of the worst kind. You OSA bots who help Scientology – you will have to face the truth someday that you helped and committed crimes for an evil organization that is nothing but that – an evil “for-profit” organization parading itself as a church victimizing ignorant and trusting souls that happen to get trapped in your web of empty promises and lies.

    Reply
    • Skyler says

      July 9, 2019 at 12:18 pm

      Hello Free At Last,

      I read your post and fully agree that he knows his time is limited. However, ….

      You used the word “entubulating” and I have this compulsive nature when I see a word that I don’t understand and I always try to find out what it means. But I cannot find any dictionary entry for

      entubulating or entubulate

      The only word I can find that is close is “intubate” which is about someone cutting a hole in the larynx and inserting a tube so someone can breathe.

      Maybe you spelled it wrong? I hope you don’t mind if I ask you what that word means and whether it maybe has a different spelling?

      Reply
      • Free At Last says

        July 9, 2019 at 12:58 pm

        Skyler – I could not edit it. I meant “ENTURBULATING”! It’s Scio Speak for getting someone upset by keying them in.

        Reply
        • Skyler says

          July 9, 2019 at 2:32 pm

          Thank you. Something strange going on at http://www.dictionary.com. There are some entries for enturbulate on Wikipedia but none on that dictionary site. Oh well.

          Reply
          • Linear13 says

            July 9, 2019 at 9:27 pm

            ‘Enturbulate’ is one of several Scientology words. It basically means to upset. Like most cults, Scientology has a its own language. If you were to hear two Scientologists talking to each other about scio matters chances are you wouldn’t know what they were talking about unless you were well versed in Scientology-speak. This site (http://www.xenu-directory.net/) has a very good Scientology term glossary. You will not find these words in the standard dictionary.

            Reply
            • Stat Pushed out the Door says

              July 10, 2019 at 12:47 pm

              Scientology says SP’s enturbulate and restimulate constantly – never keying out – never releasing.

              They just described Scientology.

              Registrars constantly spraying doom and gloom and guilt trips – events constantly pounding lies and discussing the world going to hell.

              If anyone studies ole Tubby’s tech along with being active in the cult, the people will see it. Most of them are putting out Scientological Strated Fires of Epic Proportions in their lives.

              Reply
          • Richard says

            July 10, 2019 at 9:12 am

            Skyler – Here’s a “Clamspeak” dictionary. You might want to look up “clam” for an introduction to human genetic history. (joke)

            http://www.bible.ca/scientology-dictonary-terms.htm

            Reply
        • Richard says

          July 10, 2019 at 9:41 am

          “keying them in” is also Scio Speak/Scieno Speak/Scientologese/Clamspeak etc.
          King’s English please in the translations – lol

          Reply
          • Richard says

            July 10, 2019 at 11:49 am

            Much or perhaps most Scio Speak is Hubbard renaming common observations of human emotion and behavior which is why it escapes critical analysis for most Scientologists, myself included when I was in. I had no basis for comparison.

            For example, an ARC Break is an upset. Isolating an upset to a break in Affinity, Reality or Communication was useful in auditing. Mixed in is Hubbard’s imaginative creations. It takes awhile to sort it out.

            Reply

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